Sonny: We'll be fired up

1 April 2016

Bruce Talbot

No slackening off says the skipper ahead of trip to Bristol Rovers

Sonny Bradley insists Reds won’t be downing tools now their League 2 status is virtually secured.

Crawley could reach the 50-point mark if they can complete the double over Bristol Rovers at the Memorial Ground tomorrow. That would guarantee League 2 football next season, regardless of what the bottom two, York City and Dagenham & Redbridge, do in their remaining games.

To all intents and purposes though Reds are already safe but there are still seven games to go and Sonny said: “There is still so much to play for.”

He added: “As captain it’s my job to make sure we are at it 100% in every game and that doesn’t matter if it’s the first match of the season or the last.

“There is personal pride to play for and with a lot of the lads out of contract there are players, including me, playing for their futures, whether it’s with the club or somewhere else.

“We might be almost safe but we have to approach every game with the same commitment I believe we have shown all season. Sometimes it hasn’t worked out for us in matches but I don’t think anyone has ever gone out there with a Crawley shirt on and not tried their hardest for the manager, the club and the fans.”

Sonny also believes manager Mark Yates deserves credit for his efforts so far this season.

“The Gaffer has had to deal with a lot of things. We’ve never really had a fully fit squad and we’ve had to bring in lots of players on loan, but the vast majority of them have really helped improve the team," he added.

“He’s been great with the lads all season so there’s no chance of us dropping off now. For a lot of reasons we want to finish the season strongly.”

The skipper is looking forward to tomorrow’s game as Reds look to complete the double over the promotion chasers.

“The gaffer has mentioned trying to produce the sort of performance we had at Luton tomorrow and he’s probably right. They will be up for it but we can go there and get a result if we’re disciplined and organised. We’re looking forward to playing in front of a big, noisy crowd, like there was at Luton and hopefully coming away with three points from Bristol.”